Cleveland is making its bet, and the money is on Evan Mobley.
The Cavaliers had a chance this offseason to move him in trade talks for older stars chasing one last title run. Mobley was part of multiple rumors involving big names, the kind of deals teams kick around when they think a player might be expendable.
Cleveland passed. After the James Harden trade, when the Cavs went after a player 10 years older than Garland, some around the league wondered whether they might take the same kind of swing with Mobley, a player with franchise-player upside.
Instead, the Cavs are leaning into the future they already have. Mobley and Donovan Mitchell are the centerpiece now, and Cleveland is banking on Mobley taking the next real step.
That step has been coming into focus for a while. When Mobley was drafted fourth overall, the ceiling comparison was Anthony Davis.
The floor, meanwhile, was drawn around names like Chris Bosh and Bam Adebayo, who scored 83 points in a game. Mobley has already shown elite defensive value, with his defense matching up with Bam and Gasol so far, but the offensive leap that would put him in that Davis tier still hasn’t fully arrived.
The comparison to Davis is part of why this year feels so important. Both players have dealt with injury issues, though Davis has played just one more game than Mobley five years in.
By year six, Davis had already been a top-five MVP vote-getter in year three, a four-time All-Star, and a player averaging 22.4 points over his first five seasons. Mobley has reached DPOY status and made one All-Star team, while averaging 16.7 points.
Davis’ own breakout came in year six. He played 75 games, put up 28.1 points per game, came close to three blocks a night, finished top three in MVP and DPOY voting, and posted the best shooting season of his career. That’s the kind of jump Cleveland is hoping Mobley can make now.
If it happens, the difference is that Mobley won’t have to carry it alone. He’d be doing it alongside other All-Stars, which changes the shape of the whole season.
There’s also a clear basketball reason to believe the scoring can come. James Harden can help unlock Mobley through pick-and-roll action, especially if Mobley’s three-point shot improves.
Harden has long been a player who gets plenty out of his bigs because of how much he uses the pick and roll to pull bigger defenders into space. Later in his career, he shifted from being a primary scorer to more of a primary passer, and that evolution could give Mobley more clean chances to score.
When Mobley scores, the Cavs win.
Mobley also has one edge over some of the other bigs in the East this season: chemistry. A lot of the new bigs in the conference are adjusting to new teams, while Mobley already has something built in Cleveland.
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According to Brian Windhorst, the Cavs had chances to chase bigger names like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Jaylen Brown, but instead passed and stayed committed to Evan Mobley. That choice only sharpens the spotlight on Mobley, who has already shown what he can do with a season that featured 18.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, and it leaves Cleveland betting that his next leap is worth more than any blockbuster shortcut. [Read more 🡒]